He pushed himself up from the ground, and I helped him stand until he found stability in his trembling legs again.
Brune looked around, peering at the perimeter fence and the plethora of Elthika that had landed with their riders nearby. “If we’re not in Grym, then where are we?” he wondered.
“No idea,” I breathed out, wiggling my toes in my boots, needle pricks zinging down my legs from the cramped riding seat.
“This is their outpost for the rider season,” came one of thedarukkar’s voices.
I turned to look at him. He was handsome—a full-bloodedDakkari male, from the looks of him…and from the sweeping tail that brushed the ground. One of theDothikkar’s loyal guards.
“We haven’t gotten a moment alone, so let’s take advantage,” came the other guard’s softened voice. His reddish-brown hair was curled around his tipped ears, his golden eyes flashing in the moonlight.
“I’m Ryak,” the first guardsman said. He had hooded eyes, the color red.His black hair hung to his shoulders, half of it pulled back from his face, secured in a bone clip. I thought it impressive it hadn’t fallen out for the duration of the flight. “This is Nevin.”
“Brune,” the farmer’s son chimed in, placing a hand over his chest.
“And you’re Amaia,” Ryak said, turning his gaze on me before cutting it back to Brune, baring his teeth in a half smile. “We know.”
I heard Brune’s hard swallow, felt the slap of his tail against my leg again.
I hugged my arms around my waist. It was cooler here than in Dothik this time of year, and all I had were the clothes stuffed in my travel pack.
“What are we meant to do, exactly?” I asked Ryak quietly. Because I had a feeling he was the one in charge, not Nevin. If I hadn’t come, it would’ve been my brother at Ryak’s side.
“Whatever we tell you to do,” Ryak answered simply.
I frowned, my shoulders tightening at the cold arrogance in his voice. The way he’d said it set my teeth on edge. And whether it was my exhaustion or frustration from being here in the first place, I didn’t know. Even I knew to hold my tongue, but I simply didn’t care in that moment.
“I came here as a favor to my brother,” I said with gritted teeth. “I did not agree to take orders from one of theDothikkar’s pets. If you don’t have a plan you can give us, then what in Kakkari’s name are we doing here?”
“Watch yourself,” Ryak murmured, observing me with narrowed eyes. “In Dothik, I could cut out your tongue for speaking to me that way.”
And it was on the tip of my tongue to tell him to try it, but I took in a deep breath, especially when I felt Brune’s tail swat at me, this time seemingly intentionally.
“My apologies,” I said woodenly. I added, “Darukkar.”
Ryak let out a sharp breath through his nostrils as he regarded me, tipping his chin back. We would not get along. I could already tell that outright.
“Just relax,” Ryak told me. Told us both. “Get an understanding of your assigned positions. Then we’ll talk.”
They aren’t telling us something,I thought. But it didn’t make sense because I knew my brother wouldn’t have deceived me about coming here. He wouldn’t have lied to me about my purpose here.
So why did I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, especially when I saw Nevin exchange a look with Ryak as they turned from us both?
Brune met my eyes. He shook his head, looking at me beseechingly, as if asking if I was nuts to speak to a guardsman that way.
“Dakkari!” came the voice. A female rider, one I’d seen speaking with theKaratha couple days prior before he’d taken off on his Elthika. I hadn’t seen any sign of him since, which was relieving. Maybe he wouldn’t even be here. Wherever here was. Maybe he was back in Grym, where he belonged.
The rider was beckoning us over, near the fence perimeter of the village. A crowd had started to gather, people inspecting us and murmuring to themselves, despite the late hour.
It was difficult to wrap my head around the fact that I wasn’t in Dakkar anymore. I was in a place where very few of my people had ever stepped foot.
There was excitement at the prospect, especially in regard toworking in an Elthikan hatchery. But there was also fear. And now an even deeper sense of paranoia if we were caught doing…whatever the hell we were meant to do.
Only a season,I reminded myself.Take advantage. Then you can go home. Back to your family, back to yourpyroki.Back to your life.
And Kiron would be safe.
I felt better knowing that. And so I followed behind Brune when he started to approach the perimeter fence.
